• Posted July 11, 2025

U.S. Cuts to HIV Aid Could Lead to 4 Million Deaths, U.N. Warns

Global deaths from AIDS have dropped to their lowest levels in more than 30 years, in part due to efforts to fight HIV. But U.S. funding cuts could soon reverse that progress, experts warn.

A United Nations report released Thursday says that if the money isn’t replaced, more than 4 million people could die of AIDS by 2029 and 6 million more could become infected with HIV, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, launched by President George W. Bush in 2003, has helped millions in countries hardest hit by the disease. UNAIDS, the U.N. program focused on fighting HIV, called PEPFAR a “lifeline.”

The program supported HIV testing for more than 84 million people and treatment for more than 20 million, the AP said.

In countries like Nigeria, it paid for nearly all — 99.9% — of HIV prevention medicines, the report says.

In January, the U.S. suddenly stopped a planned $4 billion in global HIV funding. That money disappeared overnight after U.S. President Donald Trump suspended foreign aid and moved to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The change has already had major impacts: Clinics have closed, thousands of health facilities are without staff, testing has stalled and many people living with HIV now have no care.

“There’s nothing we can do that will protect these countries from the sudden, vicious withdrawal of support from the U.S.,” said Tom Ellman of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders.

Andrew Hill, an HIV expert at the University of Liverpool in the U.K., said while Trump had the right to cut aid, “any responsible government would have given advance warning so countries could plan.”

In 2024, about 630,000 people worldwide died from AIDS-related illnesses. That’s far lower than the peak of 2 million deaths in 2004, the AP said.

But progress has been uneven.

Half of all new HIV infections still occur in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNAIDS.

Even more concerning? The loss of data. The U.S. funded most HIV tracking systems in Africa, and many have now stopped collecting patient and hospital records.

“Without reliable data about how HIV is spreading, it will be incredibly hard to stop it,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, epidemiologist and research professor at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Despite the challenges, there is some hope. A new injectable drug from Gilead, called Yeztugo, was approved last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The drug, which is given twice a year, was 100% effective at preventing HIV in recent studies, the AP reported.

South Africa’s health minister, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, said his country would do whatever it takes to get the drug to those who need it, especially teen girls.

For many countries, the new drug may be too expensive, some experts say. Gilead plans to offer cheaper generic versions in 120 low-income countries with high HIV rates, but most of Latin America has been left out.

“We could be ending AIDS,” Peter Maybarduk, director of the nonprofit group Public Citizen, said. “Instead, the U.S. is abandoning the fight.”

More information

The World Health Organization has more HIV data and statistics.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, July 10, 2025